Murray loses cool & match

Shanghai, October 8  

A fuming Andy Murray accused Fabio Fognini of shouting during a critical point as the Briton went down fighting in three bitter sets at the Shanghai Masters today.

The two players confronted one another in a lengthy exchange by the net near the end of a bad-tempered match that stretched past three hours. The 12th-ranked Fognini plays the unseeded American Taylor Fritz or Russian seventh seed Karen Khachanov in the last-16 after a contentious 7-6(7) 2-6 7-6(7) victory.

But Murray, 32, on the comeback from career-saving hip surgery in January, said: "Someone made a noise, I didn't know who made the noise, I looked in the direction of where the noise came from. He then told me, 'Stop looking at me, what are you looking at me for?' "I was like, 'I was just about to hit a shot and someone made a noise'. He then told me to stop looking at him," Murray added.

"The sound came from him, which you're not allowed to do, it's against the rules, it's hindrance, you shouldn't do it." The three-time Grand Slam winner was frustrated the chair umpire failed to intervene as the match turned increasingly sour.

The former No. 1 was also annoyed he repeatedly served for the match but failed to win.

"I want to say that's the first time ever in my career that that's happened," Murray said. "I think it's the first time I served for a match twice and not won, he added." 

Sweet revenge for Federer 

Ruthless Roger Federer claimed victory in his opener with a straight-set win over Spain's Albert Ramos-Vinolas.

The 38-year-old Swiss won 6-2 7-6(7) and plays Belgium's 13th seed David Goffin or Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan in the last-16. The 46th-ranked Ramos-Vinolas put up a better fight in the second set, forcing the tie break and taking a 2-0 and then 4-1 lead. But Federer won the tiebreak — and the match — with a 

forehand smash. 

Red-hot Daniil Medvedev got his tournament off to a flying start with a 6-3 6-1 demolition of Britain's Cameron Norrie. — AFP 

A grand return at Australian Open

Melbourne: Andy Murray will make his Grand Slam return at the Australian Open in January, a year after career-saving hip surgery, tournament organisers announced today. The Scotsman, a three-time Major winner has been slowly working his way back to fitness and is now ranked 289th, up from 503rd just a week ago. Murray, 32, won his opening match at the Shanghai Masters on Monday, beating Argentine qualifier Juan Ignacio Londero in three sets, following a quarterfinal appearance in Beijing last week. With his confidence seemingly growing by the day, Australian Open organisers said the former world No. 1 had committed to extending the Majors in January. He has made the final five times. AFP

Bopanna-Shapovalov enter pre-quarters

Shanghai: India's Rohan Bopanna and his partner Denis Shapovalov entered the pre-quarterfinals of the Shanghai Masters doubles event with a straight-set win over Russian pair of Karen Khachanov and Andrey Rublev here today. The Indo-Canadian pair notched up a 6-1 6-4 win over Khachanov and Rublev in the opening round. The duo will now face the winner of the match between the pair of Borna Coric of Crotia and Runhao Hua of China and Polish-Brazilian combination of Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo. PTI